June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that Israel would send no troops to Beirut after a call he held with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel, and there will be no Troops going to Beirut, and any Troops that are on their way, have already been turned back,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

"Likewise, through highly placed Representatives, I had a very good call with Hezbollah, and they agreed that all shooting will stop."

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA, June 1 (Reuters) - A former Syrian intelligence chief in the city of Raqqa went on trial in Austria on charges of torture and sexual abuse on Monday over the mistreatment of opponents of then-leader Bashar al-Assad more than a decade ago.

It is a relatively rare case of a European country claiming jurisdiction for alleged crimes committed by agents of Assad's government. The trial, due to last a month, will include alleged victims' testimony.

US President Donald Trump said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to stop fighting, adding that Iran talks were moving rapidly after seeming to falter over Israel's Lebanon offensive.

Trump said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and had a "very good call" through unnamed representatives with the Hezbollah militant group.

Netanyahu agreed to call off a military raid on Beirut while Hezbollah agreed "all shooting will stop," Trump said on his Truth Social network.

June 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that he had not heard from Iranians that they were suspending talks with the Washington, but added that silence would be fine and he was willing to wait.

"I think we've been talking too much if you want to know the truth. I think going silent would be very good, and that could be for a long time," Trump said in an interview with NBC News.

"It doesn't mean we're going to go and start dropping bombs all over there," Trump was quoted as saying. "We'll just go silent. We'll keep the blockade."

By Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou

ATHENS, June 1 (Reuters) - Despite the current ceasefire between the United States and Iran, it remains too risky to move the thousands of sailors stuck in the Gulf, the head of the U.N.'s shipping agency said.

By Parisa Hafezi

DUBAI, June 1 (Reuters) - Iran is pushing for a limited interim agreement with the United States in a bid to ease mounting economic pressure and stabilise the situation at home, while avoiding major concessions on its nuclear programme, according to sources and analysts.

The approach reflects a familiar playbook for the Islamic Republic: absorb pressure, avoid irreversible compromises and keep negotiations alive without shifting core positions, three Iranian sources close to decision-makers said.

By Angus McDowall and Benjamin Raab

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT, June 1 (Reuters) - The medieval Beaufort Castle's stone ramparts tower so far above south Lebanon that Israel could hail their capture as a strategic victory, even as it evoked the miseries of a previous occupation.

When Israeli forces entered the 900-year-old castle on Saturday, they were returning to a fortress they held throughout their 1982-2000 presence in southern Lebanon, a campaign that years of Hezbollah attacks ultimately drove them to end.

TEL AVIV, June 1 (Reuters) - Israel's Defence Ministry on Monday said France had banned Israeli government representatives from attending the Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris this month.

France has also banned Israeli weapons makers from exhibiting offensive systems and will only permit them to display "air defence products".

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

DUBAI, June 1 (Reuters) - Iran's Tasnim news agency said on Monday that Tehran's negotiating team is stopping exchanges of messages with the United States through mediators due to attacks on Lebanon, as diplomatic efforts to end the three-month-old Iran war continue.

The agency said Iran and the Resistance Front, which includes its Shiite allies in Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq, have set an agenda to completely block the Strait of Hormuz and activate other fronts, including the Bab El Mandeb Strait, in order to "punish" Israel and its supporters.

By Jonathan Saul and Renee Maltezou

ATHENS, June 1 (Reuters) - Shipping executives meeting in Athens on Monday said that any peace deal worked out between the United States and Iran would need to offer clear rules allowing vessels to resume normal business via the Strait of Hormuz.

Shipowners and maritime industry officials met at a Capital Link conference and other events to begin Posidonia, a week-long biennial shipping exhibition.

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